Get More Beauty Sleep to Stay Slim

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A new study found that women who sleep at least seven hours a night weigh less than those who get five or fewer hours nightly.

The 16-year study involved 68,183 middle-aged women who were asked to report their usual night's sleep as well as track their weight every two years.

The results of the study, presented at the American Thoracic Society's international conference, found that the women who got fewer than five hours of shut-eye a night weight an average of 5.4 pounds more at the start of the research than those who got at least seven hours. Furthermore, the women receiving fewer hours of sleep gained about 1.6 pounds more than the other women over the course of 10 years.

“That may not sound like much, but it is an average amount. Some women gained much more than that, and even a small difference in weight can increase a person's risk of health problems such as diabetes and hypertension,” said study leader, Dr. Sanjay Patel.

According to the study, the women who slept less than five hours a night were 32 percent more likely to gain a significant amount of weight and 15 percent more likely to become obese than the women who got more zzz's.

Furthermore, even women getting six hours of sleep a night were 12 percent more likely to experience major weight gain and six percent more likely to become obese.

While there have been numerous studies suggesting that people who get more beauty sleep are slimmer, the new study is one of the first to show the long term effects of weight gain and sleep patterns.

According to Patel, prior studies suggest that appetite and exercise habits of those who sleep less come into play when determining the causes of weight gain. However, the new study found that women who slept less actually ate less and found little difference in the amount of physical activity between the two groups that could explain the weight gain.

Patel points to other possibilities that could explain why women who sleep less weigh more. “Sleeping less may cause changes in a person's basal metabolic rate (the number of calories you burn when you're at rest),” he said.

Patel added, “another contributor to weight regulation that has recently been discovered is called non-exercise-associated thermogenesis, or NEAT, which refers to involuntary activity, such as fidgeting or standing instead of sitting. It may be that if you sleep less, you move around less when you're awake, too, and therefore burn up fewer calories.”

More research needs to be conducted before determining the relationship between sleep pattern and weight.


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